Our Past & Present

Advanced Equipment Corporation was established in Bellevue, Washington in 1957 as a Designer, Manufacturer, and Installer of Operable Walls. The company was incorporated in the State of Washington in 1958. Founder Wesley Dickson, current Chief Executive and principal stockholder Scott Dickson.

The primary market for Advanced operable walls in the late 1950s was California's educational facilities. To have better access to this market, Advanced moved its office and factory to Orange County, California in 1959. Our principal offices and main factory remain in Orange County to this day, with additional facilities near Seattle, Washington and Charlotte, North Carolina.

During the 1960s and 70s, we became very active in the hospitality and convention center markets. The continuous severe service demands of these environments led to the development of the Advanced Alpha® series — the all-welded, all-steel construction that remains our benchmark for quality and enables us to offer a Ten Year Limited Warranty on Alpha® panels.

In 1968 Advanced developed the automatic sorting track storage system for individual panel manual operable walls. In 1981, Supertrack® was introduced — designed for panels with heights greater than 40 feet and weighing in excess of 2,000 pounds. Its unique two thrust-bearing trolley design delivers "one-hand" ease of operation into and out of storage areas.

The 1980s brought VISION®, our computer-controlled rear projection screen shield system; curved, welded steel operable walls; and a growing emphasis on field sound testing to verify real-world acoustic performance. Today we continue designing special-purpose machinery — including robotic welders and plasma slitters — to produce panels of great size with exceptional precision.